A newly completed wharf improvement project to enable a terminal to welcome newer, larger and cleaner ships and a recently approved pact to ensure an ample supply of skilled workers for future construction projects were both celebrated in a combined event Thursday at the Port of Long Beach, according to the company's release.
The Pier G Wharf Improvements Project adds 246 feet of new wharf at Pier G that will allow terminal operator International Transportation Service to accommodate container ships capable of carrying up to 16,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo. The $55 million project, funded by the Port, also adds backland area and mooring infrastructure at Pier G.
The wharf extension was completed under a portwide project labor agreement between the Port and the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council. Recently, the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners approved a new 10-year portwide project labor agreement. PLAs are used to ensure major infrastructure projects at the Port will be completed without any work stoppages, strikes or lockouts. Under a PLA, workers – unionized or not – receive prevailing wages. The pacts require 40% of the work to be performed by local residents and provisions are made to offer training and apprenticeship opportunities.
The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners in January approved a new project labor agreement covering construction projects valued at $5 million or more, aimed at ensuring the timely delivery of well-built marine terminals, rail improvements, roadways and other infrastructure at the Port. The pact lays out the process for swiftly resolving any differences arising between contractors and workers in addition to potential jurisdictional disputes between labor unions.
The Port of Long Beach is one of the world’s premier seaports, a gateway for trans-Pacific trade and a trailblazer in goods movement and environmental stewardship. The Port handles trade valued at more than $200 billion annually and supports 2.6 million trade-related jobs across the nation, including 575,000 in Southern California.